Category Archives: Biology

Brainy Blogging from Brazil: Part 1

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Adam

The human brain as a linearly scaled-up primate brain. There are truisms in brain-science which hide more than they reveal. For example, the old line that there’s 100 billion neurones in the brain and ten times as many non-neurones as … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biology, Super-Tech | 3 Comments

Prospects for Oxygen-Breathers in Europa

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Adam

An MSNBC news-bite covering a recent study by Richard Greenberg, long time Europa researcher, which quantifies the delivery of oxygen, produced by photolysis of surfaces ices, to the ocean beneath. The ocean seems to be highly oxygenated and, Greenberg estimates, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Carnival, Cosmos, SETI | 6 Comments

Neanderthal Man is… Us!

Posted on May 8, 2010 by Adam

NEANDERTALS LIVE! from Assoc. Prof. John Hawks’ weblog. John Hawks discusses how Neanderthals have survived to the present day, as recently revealed by their sequenced genomes. More interestingly it means the Neanderthals were the same species as Homo sapiens – … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biology | 1 Comment

More on ARMAN

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Adam

Weird, Ultra-small Microbes Turn Up in Acidic Mine Drainage …at On Orbit …a reiteration of this Astrobiology Magazine piece …itself a re-echo of this U.Cal Berkeley News Bite. Basically the ARMAN (Archaeal Richmond Mine Acidophilic Nanoorganisms) microbes, classified with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, SETI, Sol Space | Leave a comment

Neuro-Theology Part 1

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Adam

Dr. Michael Persinger is a researcher in neuroscience at the Laurentian University in Sudbury, Canada. He has made a wide-range of often controversial claims for the origins of “spiritual” experiences – for example, that magnetic stimulation of the brain can … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Belief or Not, Biology, Cosmos, SETI, Super-Tech | 1 Comment

Origin of Life?

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Adam

How Life got started on planet Earth is an important question to answer, because of the implications for Life in the wider Universe and prospects for Life here too. Several new findings have strengthened the view that Life’s particular architecture … Continue reading →

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Life in Nasty Places

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Adam

Titan is cold, so cold that bottled BBQ gas (methane & ethane) are liquid in lakes around its poles and it rains (pours really) the stuff periodically in regions closer to the equator. Methane-Ethane lakes on Titan (Credit: Copyright 2008 … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Cosmos, SETI, Sol Space | 1 Comment

Beyond Neptune

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Adam

A recent preprint by Charles Lineweaver & Marc Norman, of ANU, proposes that dwarf planets can be defined physically by the “Potato Radius” – the size at which gravity overcomes the strength of their constituent materials and makes them into … Continue reading →

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The first metazoan living without Oxygen

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Adam

Abstract | The first metazoa living in permanently anoxic conditions. Three species of multi-cellular eukaryote, phylum Loricifera, have been found in totally anoxic conditions. They have no mitochondria, instead replacing those oxygen-burning energy generators with endosymbionts that look a lot … Continue reading →

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Faint Young Sun, Warm Dark Earth

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Adam

Early Earth absorbed more sunlight — no extreme greenhouse needed to keep water wet. Researcher unravels one of geology’s great mysteries. The two news pieces discuss a single PreCambrian conundrum – the puzzle of liquid water on an Earth illuminated … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Cosmos, Sol Space | 4 Comments